The state of Jammu and Kashmir is facing its worst floods in 60 years. Given that the flood has uprooted communication modes making the area almost inaccessible, we have launched several tools, to help gather and relay information about people affected by the devastation.

Here are some of the tools we’ve been working on:

Google Person Finder, a web application that allows individuals to post the details of, and search for the status of, family members or friends affected by the disaster. If you’re worried about someone in the disaster affected area, then click on “I’m Looking for Someone” and type in their name. If you want to let people know you’re safe, or if you have heard from someone in the disaster affected area, then click on “I have information about someone” and put in their names and details. As the number of names and records increases, the tool will make it easier for those who are safe to pass on their status to people worried about them. It is available in bothEnglish andHindi.

The People finder tool can be embedded on any website - here are instructions for embedding person finder:

We’ve also made Person Finder available on mobile phones. You can request status via SMS by sending the message “Search”, followed by the person’s name i.e. “Search” <name>, to the number 9773300000 . For example, if you are searching for Rohan Gupta, send the message “Search Rohan Gupta”

To make emergency information available immediately, we have also launched aOnebox on Google Search in Hindi and English. This provides helpline information of the Army, Home Ministry, and NDRF Control Room, listed below:

Emergency Army Helpline:(+91) 011-23019831

Home Ministry Helpline:(+91) 011-23093054 · (+91) 011-23092763

NDRF Control Room:(+91) 011-26107953 · (+91) 0-9711077372

While on-ground disaster response is being carried out by specialised entities, everyone can do their bit to help by sharing information.